Spring Spotlight: Tight End

Preparations for the 2026 college football season are underway at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. In a few short weeks, cleats will be hitting the grass practice fields and/or the turf at the Nutter Field House as Kentucky head coach Will Stein gets set to begin his first spring practice as the leader of a program. There will be a lot of new for the Wildcats in 2026 but the tight end room stayed mostly the same.

UTSA offensive coordinator Justin Burke replaces tight ends coach Derek Shay after he bolted for Texas A&M following the season. The former Louisville quarterback inherits a room that did not add a transfer this offseason. UK is rolling with personnel continuity at tight end in 2026.

In KSR’s Spring Spotlight series, we will cover every position on Kentucky’s roster before spring practice begins. Next up is tight end where a Northern Kentucky native will be asked to play a major role for the offense this season.

Spring Spotlight: Quarterback

Spring Spotlight: Running Back

Spring Spotlight: Wide Receiver

The Room

Henry Boyer (6-6, 265, Redshirt Senior)

The Illinois transfer played 240 snaps for Kentucky last season and was retained by the new staff. Boyer is a big and physical in-line tight end who will provide blocking value for the offense. The veteran isn’t expected to start but will have a role in this offense.

Elijah Brown (6-6, 258, Redshirt Senior)

This Dayton native battled injuries in his first season at UK and only played two offensive snaps. Brown started his career at Alabama before spending the 2023 and 2024 seasons at Florida Atlantic where he played in 11 games and earned one career start. Brown gives the offense a tight end with some experience and good size.

Willie Rodriguez (6-4, 252, Junior)

The Covington (Ky.) Catholic product who picked Kentucky over multiple SEC school is coming off a 23 receptions for 310 yards season. Rodriguez has played 600-plus snaps over his first two seasons on campus and has become a reliable target with zero career drops. Rodriguez has shown the foot speed to stretch the seam and has shown glimpses of being a reliable red zone target.

The junior figures to have a big role this season after both Will Stein and Joe Sloan featured tight ends in their offense last season.

Justin Kattus (6-1, 213, Redshirt Sophomore)

The younger brother of Josh Kattus returns for his third year in the program. Justin Kattus is a Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier product who will add depth to the tight end room in Lexington.

Mikkel Skinner (6-4, 231, Redshirt Freshman)

This former four-star recruit recorded 44 receptions, 1,140 yards from scrimmage, and 18 total touchdowns as a senior in South Carolina. Skinner dealt with a soft-tissue injury in fall camp and never worked his way into the rotation in year one. However, this was a huge recruiting win for the program. The flex tight end has the potential to be a mismatch creator. Could become one of the biggest wild cards on the offense. Skinner owns a legitimate wide receiver skill set.

Top Storyline: How will tight ends be utilized in this new offense

Kenyon Sadiq (Oregon), Jamari Johnson (Oregon), and Trey’Dez Green (LSU) each went for over 400 receiving yards on 30-plus catches last season. A Kentucky tight end has not reached those numbers since Jacob Tamme logged 56 receptions for 619 yards and seven touchdowns in 2007. That was two decades ago. To say the Big Blue Nation is ready for that to change would be an understatement.

Wide receiver enters the year as one of the most unproven positions on the offense. Kentucky is betting a bounce-back from LSU transfer Nic Anderson, banking on a smooth level up transition for Southern Utah transfer Shane Carr, need DJ Miller Jr. to develop, and now have a wild card with Hardley Gilmore IV rejoining the program. There are some clear unknowns with that group. To supplement the unit, Kentucky could use more tight end usage in the passing game. That is something we’ve seen from both Will Stein and Joe Sloan.

Willie Rodriguez is a candidate for a huge year. Mikkel Skinner has a skill set that can be utilized. Kentucky probably has to throw the ball to the tight end this season. The new offensive operation will look to create ways to get this position involved. Spring practice could tell us how big of a role this unit will have in the throw game.

What To Watch For: Mikkel Skinner’s development

At KSR+ ahead of every offseason, I write a wild cards column to highlight the high upside players who could provide a splash element and potentially change the season for Kentucky. Mikkel Skinner will very likely be featured in that piece this season. We know UK will involve the tight end position more this season. There is not another player on the roster poses the unique dual-threat skill set that Skinner could bring the offense.

There could be comps to Kenyon Sadiq throughout the offseason for Skinner. The young flex tight end still has a lot to prove but his speed, ball skills, and run after catch creation skill set will likely create a role this season. If he can emerge, that takes some pressure off of the receiver unit and give quarterback Kenny Minchey another weapon to utilize.